OST to PST

[Kailash]

Hi all,

I know there are several post regarding convertion of OST files to PST.
However, there are no free utility to do it for Outlook 2003 - or at least I
couldn't find any.

My problem is that I have a laptop user which accidently deleted his
exchange mailbox on a foreign trip. The OST file is still present and
contains several emails which are not present my exchange server (the user
was away for some time and was using a POP email account during this time).
The question is whether we can open the OST file if we just re-created the
exchange connection.

We really want the OST file to replace/update items on the exchange rather
exchange "pushing" its copy of the user old mailbox on the laptop.

Note too sure what will happen if we recreate the exchange account on the PC
on the office network... hope someone can help.

Thanks
Kailash

 

[Yama]

Hi,

Have you search for the .pst file in hidden folders on his laptop ? Anything
you delete on a computer is recoverable according to many experts.

Yama

 

[Kailash]

Hi,

I found the OST file in the hidden folders but outlook creates an OST file
when it has an exchange account rather than a PST file. Nothing is deleted
on the computer, its rather the connection to the OST file and I can't find
a way to open it unless its converted to PST.

Thanks
Kailash

 

[William Lefkovics [MVP]]

I don't know of any for unicode .osts.
The old one is still kickin' around...
http://www.outlookexchange.com/articles/drewnicholson/ost2pst.exe

By 'deleted the mailbox' do you mean his account in Outlook?
The .ost is tied to the profile.

This is Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 in Cached mode, right?

 

[Kailash]

ost2pst.exe doesn't seem to work with Outlook 2003 OSTs - i believe it was
made for previous versions. The user effectively deleted the account in
Outlook only. It's still present on the server but there is a lot of
important emails which are in the OST file and which are not on the Exchange
server.

And yes, this is Exchange 2003 with Outlook 2003.

 

[Guest]

Did you try a system restore point?

ost2pst.exe doesn't seem to work with Outlook 2003 OSTs - i believe it was
made for previous versions. The user effectively deleted the account in
Outlook only. It's still present on the server but there is a lot of
important emails which are in the OST file and which are not on the Exchange
server.

And yes, this is Exchange 2003 with Outlook 2003.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

That only works for the old format, not Unicode. Try a system restore.
Otherwise, you'll need to pay for something if you must recover them.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

 

[Kailash]

No. The problem is a bit complicated since when the user deleted the
account, all we could do was to advise him to make a copy of the OST file
somewhere on his hard drive. He had to use the PC for a couple of weeks more
before coming back to the office. He also had to check his POP3 mail
accounts on the same outlook.

I'm afraid that a system restore at this point might cuz the PC to go too
far backwards.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

you wont lose anything except updates and the currant state is saved so you
can restore back once you recovered the mail (export it to a pst.)